- Name Python 3.8
- Category Developer tools
- Downloads 58,000,000+
- Developer Python Software Foundation
- Available on PC
- OS Windows 10 version 17763.0 or higher
- Architecture x64
Pros
1. Walrus Operator: Python 3.8 introduces the walrus operator `:=` which allows assignment of values to variables as part of an expression, improving code readability and potentially reducing the number of lines of code.
2. Enhanced Typing: The introduction of the `TypedDict` in the typing module allows for more precise type annotations of dictionaries, enhancing code quality and enabling better static analysis by type-checking tools.
3. Performance Improvement: Python 3.8 includes optimizations such as the use of Vectorcall, a protocol for faster argument handling in functions, leading to improved performance for function calls.
Cons
1. Performance Limitations: Python 3.8, like its predecessors, can be slower than compiled languages like C++ or Java due to its interpreted nature, affecting the performance of compute-intensive applications.
2. Global Interpreter Lock (GIL): The GIL is a mutex that protects access to Python objects, preventing multi-threading from executing Python bytecodes in parallel, thus potentially limiting the efficient utilization of multi-core processors in concurrent applications.
3. Memory Consumption: Python's flexibility and ease of use come with a trade-off in memory consumption. Python 3.8 may use more memory than lower-level languages, which could be an issue for memory-intensive tasks or on systems with limited resources.